Wes Montgomery

Stringed instruments have a place of honor among the jazz ensemble along with horns and keyboards. To mark Jazz Appreciation Month, we salute all the virtuosos for whom the string's the thing.

Perhaps the most appropriate person to lead the parade is Eddie Lang, considered by many to be “The Father of Jazz Guitar.” His own father was an instrument maker, and Lang studied violin as a child before mastering the guitar. He was a fixture of the New York music scene of the late 1920s, performing with the likes of Hoagy Carmichael, Bing Crosby, and Joe Venuti, an old school friend. Venuti can be called the father of jazz violin playing, and his duets with Eddie Lang for Okeh are among the true gems of early jazz.

Lang's death at age 30 cut the partnership short, but not before it could inspire a couple of other string players across the ocean. Jean “Django” Reinhardt learned the banjo and guitar while growing up in gypsy caravans in France. At one of these encampments, he was badly burned in a fire, leaving a couple digits of his left hand paralyzed; Reinhardt adapted his playing style so that he could solo with just two fingers. Shortly thereafter, Django discovered jazz and became one of its leading exponents in Europe. Like Eddie Lang, he teamed with a talented violinist, Stéphane Grappelli, and their Hot Club de France recordings are jazz milestones.